


Formication

by Musical_Fandom



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Bugs & Insects, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt No Comfort, Psychological Horror, Self-Mutilation, Somewhat graphic description of injury, Status Effects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29848206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_Fandom/pseuds/Musical_Fandom
Summary: Set during Futaba's palace, an unknown shadow hits Akira with the fear ailment.
Kudos: 14





	Formication

It was hellishly hot outside, both in the real world and the cognitive world. Within both worlds, the sun was unforgiving and unrelenting. The sparse bouts of wind did little to cool the sun’s assault, only actually managing to blow more hot air and burning sand in everyone’s face. It was these conditions that made Akira almost happy to enter the tomb that stood before him. It was dangerous but at least it didn’t carry the risk of them dying of heat stroke. Such an end for the Phantom Thieves would be so mundane, embarrassing even.

As Akira led his team into the palace, he looked at the doors that blocked their way to the treasure. There had to be about one or two left at this point which was a good sign of their progress. At this rate, they’d have plenty of time before Mejed’s threats were carried out.

Akira led the Thieves through Futaba's tomb. He kept to the shadows as he avoided those that patrolled the halls. Despite the soft green glow that came from some of the walls, the darkness was more than suitable enough to hide everyone. As he rounded the corner, he saw a shadow blocking their way. It stood stationary in front of the door leaving them no way to sneak around it.

"Joker, this one seems more powerful than the rest, are you ready?" He looked down at Morgana and nodded. In an instant he was launching towards the shadow and hitting it with his dagger, collapsing its form. He jumped back and was joined by Ryuji, Morgana, and Yusuke. 

The shadow melted into a black puddle before reforming into a writhing mass of insects. Seeing it made Akira freeze, it wasn't anything he'd ever fought before. The aura it had was strange and off-putting and just made him want to turn and leave.

Yusuke went first, he cast a Bufula at the _thing_ in front of them but it resisted the attack. Next, Akira tried an Eiga only for it to be completely blocked by the unknown shadow. Morgana managed to knock it down with a garula sending bugs flying out of the pile that made up its form. Akira was quick to knock one off when it landed on him, trying his best not to cringe at the feeling.

An all out attack left the shadow at half health, a critical blow from Ryuji followed by another all out attack left it with only the smallest sliver of health. That was when the shadow finally took its opportunity to attack. It cast Evil Smile which should have been easy enough to dodge. Unfortunately for Akira, the spell managed to hit him and him alone, immediately inflicting him with one of the worst status effects **_fear_**.

Fear was a special kind of hell. Akira had noticed that, in the few times he got hit with it, every shadow had their own unique variation of it. Akira froze when he felt it. Bugs crawling on his skin, _hundreds_ of them. He felt like he would be sick as the sensation got more real by the second. He looked down at his arms where it was the most vivid. Quickly, he yanked back the sleeve of his coat just barely managing to hold back a scream when he saw something moving _under_ his skin. Bumps under his arm moved and wriggled around painfully. He started to panic. His legs seemed to give out on him as the sensation grew worse. He needed them _out_.

"Joker's afraid, he might not be able to attack!" Morgana yelled but Akira could hardly focus on anything but getting rid of the _things_ that had invaded his body. He grabbed his dagger with a shaking hand and started slashing. He kept going until his arm was a mess of red but _it wouldn't stop._ The feeling persisted, even growing worse on other parts of his body. Akira kept slashing away at his arm hoping it would just _stop_. The pain from it was almost completely drowned out by the feeling of crawling under his skin.

Akira scratched at the ruined skin on his arm, painting his crimson gloves a darker shade of red. It _hurt_ but he needed the feeling **_gone_**. He was starting to feel lightheaded from all the blood he was losing but it didn't matter. He continued to claw at his arm hoping to somehow remove the unseen invaders. He tore away at the skin until there was nothing left but they were still _there_. In the blood that covered his arm, he could see _something_ moving. He kept going until he was clawing away at muscle. _**It just wouldn't stop.** _

"Holy shit!" Akira felt someone grab at his arm to stop him from doing any more damage. He struggled against them but their grip was much stronger than he was at the moment. While he was left defensless, the bugs beneath his skin began to move faster. He could feel them start to painfully _burrow_ deeper into his body. He needed it all _gone_ , he needed-

A cold sensation washed over him. All the terrible sensations of insects suddenly left only to be replaced with an intense pain in his right arm. His mind became more clear and less panicked until he realized _why_ he was in pain. He looked down in horror at what he'd done. The smell of copper suddenly hit, instantly making him feel nauseous.

A warm sensation filled his right arm as he felt the skin stitch itself back together. Red was replaced with a more pale version of his regular skin tone. The smell of blood still overwhelmed him and combined with the bloodloss to make him feel lightheaded. He leaned back against someone and tried to even out his too fast breathing. 

"How are you feeling?" Makoto lowered herself to his level to talk to him. She looked concerned beneath her metal mask. Akira just looked at her for a second, still not entirely in the right frame of mind to form words. He dropped the dagger he was still holding and shook his head. "I think we should head back for the day."

Akira gave a thumbs up before Ryuji helped him to his feet. Red transferred to his yellow gloves but he didn't seem to mind. Everything went slow after that. Makoto and Morgana took the lead as they left. They tried to blend in but weren't quite as good as Akira, Even Akira himself couldn't hide as well as he would have liked when the world seemed to endlessly spin. His movements were sloppy which was fine because he wasn't allowed on the front lines anymore.

Once they left, Akira still felt awful. The lightheadedness only slightly eased. Fortunately, the blood he'd been covered with didn't follow him into the real world which allowed a slight reprieve from the harsh metallic scent.

The second Akira walked into LeBlanc, Sojiro shot him a worried look. "What happened to you?" He asked, poorly hiding the concern in his voice. Akira brushed it off, trying to act fine, something which was sabotaged by the way he swayed as he walked.

Akira climbed the stairs, practically clinging to the railing the entire time. He was exhausted and lightheaded. A phantom pain lingered in his arm despite the damage he did to it being long gone.

"What happened?" Morgana asked. He jumped out of Akira's bag and eyed him curiously. "I looked over when the fight was done and..." He trailed off and looked at Akira's arm. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it's fine." He lied. Morgana jumped on the bed and lightly swished his tail. Akira shot back when it lightly brushed against his hand. His mind brought him back to sensation of hundreds of bugs crawling beneath his skin. He grabbed his hand tight and tried to forget about it.

"Akira?" Morgana slowly approached trying his best not to startle him. "Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Akira quickly shook his head. "I'm still getting over what happened, that's all." He let go of his hand to show Morgana. "No injuries, see?"

The cat inspected his hand thoroughly leaving Akira feeling somewhat awkward before he nodded with approval. "So about what happened in the palace-"

"We don't have to talk about it." Akira said quickly. He met Morgana's suspicious look with a small smile. He had no intention of telling a _cat_ about his newfound entomophobia. "I'm fine it just... didn't hit the way I expected it to."

Morgana hesitated for a moment then nodded. "I'm always here if you need to talk."

Akira pet Morgana's head, earning a reluctant purr from him. "I know Mona." He smiled at him. Maybe he'd be ready to talk about it in the future but not now. Not when the memory was still so fresh in his mind that he could still feel them if he thought to hard about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Formication - The sensation of insects crawling on or under the skin when nothing is there.


End file.
